Reverberations

At the guild, Vinyul in his chamber was shuffling a bunch of parchments to find one related to his work. Despite being in late afternoon, it was dark, two torches were lighting the chamber. For his discomfort there was no window in the chamber that could light it up properly. Reason was security purposes; even after assigning skillful guards the thieves could be very tenacious. Multiple thefts in relation to matters of high lord and noblemen made the guild staff paranoid. Hence, his chamber got shifted.

He was having quite the trouble to search the one parchment he needed, all the books from the shelf pulled out by him to search behind them. Oh fuck my life! It's not here I put it there. He quickly moved towards the knapsack hanging on the wall.

He bruised the parchment out of the knapsack, and rushed towards the door. It was a document related to some tax collection issues in the city, and was retrieved by him on a request from the guild.

Urgency of the parchment matter dropped dead, when a few messages from the system: Cardinia halted him in his boots. The first message was-

DEHSAELNU NEEBEVAH ESPYLACOPA EHT NEEHISH

Cardinia will now make amendments in itself for helping the inhabitants to prepare against the stated reason.

The first prompt took him by surprise, his struggle to understand the strange word's written in the message made him forget his utmost priority.

Cardinia has made the amendments, inhabitants shall check their status scroll now.

Vinyul put the parchment on a small shabby table lying beside the door. Those were the messages from Cardinia, in other words the whole world had been halted and was doing as instructed. So he did too.

           General Status:

            Race: Sentian  

            Name: Vinyul Syumina

            Level: 23

            Experience 192382/886644

            Status effect: shocked

            Status points: 9

            Titles: Seredator Slayer, Narpwolf Slayer, Liarachnid Slayer,

                Savior, and Captain.

            Job: Adventurer recruiter, Adventurer, and Swordsman.

            Health: 1123/1123

            Stamina: 413/436 

            Strength: 245

            Instincts: 196

            Perception: 213

            Intelligence: 348

            Agility: 151

          Magic Status:

            Mana: 1232/1542

            Elements' Affinity

            Wind: 190

            Fire & Lightning: 13

            Earth: 45

            Water: 74

            Space: 7

          Skills Status:

            Skill Level: 56

            Skill Experience: 936328/1219977

            Skill points: 0

            Invented Skills:

            Air Wielder (Level 12), Sword Glide (Level 2), 

            Sword Grace (Level 9).

            System Skills:

            Appraisal (virtuoso), Investigator (hustler), Leadership (Captain),

            Studying (Scholar), swordsmanship (veteran),

            and Recruiter (interviewer).

            Magic Skills:

            mana manipulation (Level 11), mana perception (Level 13),

            mana restoration (Level 9), mana expansion (Level 3). 

The status scroll left Vinyul shocked, as his status effect showed. Magic Status and most importantly those invented skills presented were the reason. Those skills which were listed in his status, only one look at their names was enough for him to guess, what those skills does. Those were the skills which he gained from years of practice; he only had been using them, and didn't even name them. But Cardinia could show them now and also had a way to improve them further.

While Vinyul was pondering about the stuff, the parchment was staring at him in disbelief. Aren't I the one who needs to be delivered as soon as possible?

The given task has been completed by the individual Vinyul Syumina. For any inquiry about any status details, think about the details. It shall be cleared by Cardinia.

Magic affinity was the most common thing in the world, and he had struggled for it once. Now the same magic affinity was the part of everyone's status, just to see their progress and improve on it. His eyes gleamed in happiness and expectations of endeavor he could take on in magic, and annoyance scratched his heart that Cardinia didn't have the feature when he needed it the most.

It was great and all, but he wanted to find the cause of this sudden and drastic change. Vinyul shook his head to break the cage of his thought chain. At his gesture the parchment looked at Vinyul with expectations, but it didn't get picked up. With excitement on his face Vinyul left the room, without even noticing the parchment; he wanted to see the guild master for finding answers.

  King theocrus and Leo both were heading towards the courtroom after they got the message from Cardinia. The light from the rounded magic stones, embedded on the walls of the inner corridor, shone their contrasting faces momentarily.

Like Vinyul's face Leo's was beaming with excitement and also for the same reason, he was a sorcerer class magician after all. But a grim expression persisted on the King theocrus's face while they were walking to the courtroom.

Maybe King theocrus knew why those changes occurred in Cardinia. It would've taken a few more minutes to reach the courtroom from the point where they were.

A horrendous roar resonated in Tracian's every corner, and King theocrus's face turned grim to pale. " [NRAP-YANCE] " While Leo fired a light spell in the corridor reacting towards the roar.

"NO! It shouldn't be happening." Only these utterance came out from King theocrus's mouth.

"Your highness, We must hurry this place isn't safe." Leo said while looking at the every nook and corner of the corridor in search of the source of the roar. Obviously, anyone would've been fooled by that roar; it didn't feel a bit distant.

"It isn't here Leo." King theocrus looked in Leo's eyes and he continued "And no one and nowhere is safe. You asked for what that message meant. Hear, it meant 'Neehish the Apocalypse have been unleashed.'" Leo couldn't believe it; King theocrus's eyes were filled with terror.

Leo asked it before, but King theocrus thought it would be better to let everyone gather first to discuss the messaage and changes. The roar made him believe that the message was true. Why it was written in ancient Nreeti? It was to stop mass panic among the inhabitants, and let the mighty ones know the apocalypse would be coming.

King theocrus continued "And the Roar you heard was of a dragon. The same could be the apocalypse from the message." King theocrus was right on the dot, but unbeknownst to him, the same apocalypse would be slain in a few minutes from now on.

Cardinia was a complex system and since it was made by the sorcerer-king, he considered the possibility of the Neehish's release in the creation of Cardinia and reckoning of its main task: to save the world. Kaye broke free Neehish from the sorcerer-king's spell, So Cardinia activated the accumulated information from centuries, on inhabitants to cultivate. It was a desperate measure for desperate need.

Cardinia wasn't an AI but sure was made smart enough to grow. But, could the changes made really had been enough for stopping Neehish? Guess one would never know, Neehish would be slain by Kaye nonetheless.

"Your highness Dragon!" Leo looked confused and said "But aren't those legendary beings who don't bother with us."

"No you are wrong they are the most destructive kind. You might have heard the legend of the Titan war, in which the dragon appeared averted its eyes from the sentian and other races, only to fought against the Titans. But I have seen it with my own eyes and heard more legends than you could ever imagine." King theocrus approached the luminous stone on the wall and while staring at it, he reminisced the events of the Titan war and explained it to Leo "A single Titan was enough to destroy a small kingdom on its own, but the dragon it didn't just kill eight of those Titans but obliterated them. Can you imagine Titans which were four times bigger than the dragon, and it literally obliterated them."

Leo's eyes widened in disbelief "But your highness, what could be the relation of a dragon to the said apocalypse?"

"What better else out there which could embody an apocalypse rather than an almighty Dragon?" King theocrus retorted to Leo's question. "The mana stones which enforce Magkrin's defenses are from the two titans which I barely managed to slay with the help of other Dwarf Kings. And there is only one more mana stone like those in existence out there. Reason being no trace of the other eight Titans had remained, after what the dragon had done with them. Isn't that proof enough?" King theocrus completed.

Before Leo could answer his question, clanks of armor filled the corridor; both saw a soldier making his way towards them.

"Your highness, the roar, It was from the Luckard Mountain." The soldier gasped out, and to his words King theocrus and Leo looked at each other's faces in anticipation.

So he won't be coming back alive, after all. While looking down King theocrus closed his eyes and shook his head in disappointment. Then they went to the courtroom to discuss the issues.

  In the cavern Kaye alone was standing while staring at the bits and pieces of the armor. Neehish's copse was nowhere to be seen. After regaining his composure, he had put the corpse into the space ring. No lightning streams were there to hurt him anymore. But still, the cracklings of the bolts from outside could be heard, and flashes of those strikes were illuminating the inside of the cavern due to the wide opening.

He put the remaning armor pieces together and wore it once more; his actions were plain and emotionless. It didn't take him half the time of climbing to descend the Lukcard. There were too few bolts he had to care about on his way down. The still present lightning strikes were the results of geological alteration from Neehish's presence, and would be like that for almost a few centuries to come. 

After he had reached close enough to the ore mines, he cared to take a look at the Blackswing. It was in a miserable state, the edge sharpness had been wiped out and there were a few bumps on its edge. He activated its appraisal ability to see the real damage but he got surprised.

Entity: Sword

          Bascic details: 

            Name: Blackswing

            Type: Weapon 

            Title: Katana

            Attack: 12(+18,706) Niyak

            Defense: 1 (+8,107) Baar

            Durability: 2(+200) Galza

            Rarity: Absolute Extreme

          Advanced details:

            Attack spells:

              From Dwarf King Theocrus Kartina's enchanting

                PRECKARI-REMERO-INCINELA: 2592 Niyak, 1279 mana

                MEVIDIC-NIKELA-DESTRIO: 2152 Niyak, 1156 mana

                KARINEL-STRITO-VEKERIA: 2012 Niyak, 901 mana

                NIYUSTI-TERINO-INCINELA: 1992 Niyak, 983 mana

                VISHIAIN-MARICKA-NALRIO: 1852 Niyak, 871 mana

                RINELIA-KARIA-VRISHKO: 1712 Niyak, 869 mana

                KARICIA-NELKA: 997 Niyak, 782 mana

                DRESHI-VARAKTO: 922 Niyak, 675 mana

                ARINEL-STRIRIA: 799 Niyak, 569 mana

                TERINELA-MIRIUM: 767 Niyak, 563 mana

                NERICH-INFERNO: 757 Niyak, 536 mana

                KINASHI-VIRASTIA: 651 Niyak, 512 mana

                PREKCARIA: 492 Niyak, 287 mana

                VERNOLIA: 456 Niyak, 176 mana

                NISIAYA: 394 Niyak, 166 mana

                KARINELA: 348 Niyak, 145 mana

                ARENIYASH: 321 Niyak, 123 mana

                REDUCIA: 247 Niyak, 110 mana

            Defense spells:

              From Dwarf King Theocrus Kartina's enchanting

                NETIAN-ARPINO-DREKAR: 3111 Baar, 1001 mana

                ESILO-NERINA-VIKRISHTI: 2721 Baar, 812 mana

                EKERIA-NIALSA: 812 Baar, 654 mana

                IRINIO-ERALS: 796 Baar, 587 mana

                     DIFITIO: 354 Baar, 230 mana

                STACIA: 313 Baar, 198 mana

            Creator: Kaye

            Enchantment: Dwarf King Kartina's enchanting

            Ability:

              From Dwarf King Theocrus's enchanting

                Appraisal:

                  Shows the Blackswings's stats  

                  Cool down time: 6 minutes  

              From Cardinia's amendments

                Restoration:

                  Restores weapons to their original state.

                  Time needed: 6:23:34 minutes

It had a timer running down for restoration. It wasn't there before, what changed it and what were those new numbers in front of those spells. Those were all eye-catching changes but there were more rejoicing things to think about. For saying, to get back to Magkrin and make deals with the King theocrus. He carefully sheathed it; his gesture was almost like he was showing respect towards it, for helping him in surviving the encounter. He put it into the space ring then. He also changed his armor to the steel plate one, such that nobody would notice what transpired.

  She was walking unguarded in the middle of the deep woods, twinkling stars and elder trees were the spectators of her naked and mesmerizing beauty. Any shred of clothing would have been an insult to her flawless ashen skin. She stopped when the moonlight reflected from her body irradiated the surrounding dense woods.

Fear from her eyes faded away and her tears started dripping from her eyes, sliding down her bare chest while she was looking at her slender beauty. When she embraced herself, it completed the perfect image of a narcissistic girl. But her crying implied otherwise I am free now? She thought.

Oh! It was her utter joy of being free with a small tint of narcissism. I need to go out there as soon as possible, I will be eating till I can't move. She was shivering from hunger, but her body didn't show any sign of starvation. She regained her composure and wiped down the tears.

While she was indulged in her chain of thoughts, two big red eyes were stalking her. A Narpwolf, nine feet in height and thirteen feet long, its dark fur was absorbing all the light it touched, concealing its presence from the prey. Guess I stumbled upon some feast tonight. It thought.

The Narpwolf filled its legs with strength and jumped aiming on her neck. She didn't even get the time to think about what was going on, she found her neck pounded by four canines of the Narpwolf. Her blood was running down on her six feet length, while she was being held by the neck in the Narpwolf's jaw.

Sheaa… She didn't even struggle a bit. The Narpwolf regretted while putting down her bloodied body. Guess, it was so much for her being freed.

Terror struck the Narpwolf when she stood up and looked with a sassy smile in its eyes. Her incarnation couldn't hold her eyes' true nature due to her joy.

"You are perfect for a start." She said to the Narpwolf, while her wounds started to heal.

What the hell is she? The Narpwolf couldn't make a move and thought.

"Oh! you really don't need to know." She said and stroked the neck of the Narpwolf with adoration. She looked puny in front of the monstrous size of the Narpwolf.

With a wave of her hand the Narpwolf's neck revealed its inner flesh, its spilling blood turned her caramel hair to dark red. The Narpwolf fell down and wriggled in pain, but she embraced its fur and chomped down its neck's innards with pleasure. There was no malice in her eyes; she was just having her food.

When the Narpwolf's pain receptors stunned by the huge rush of pain, he thought so this is how all those Sentians felt when I ate them alive. And it died.

When she was halfway through her meal a man approached her and said "Viiela, I didn't want to disturb you at the time of your meal. But this is urgent."

It had been ages since she heard her name and so she reacted immediately despite her hunger. She ran to the man and while hugging his huge muscular body she said "Mritnaal, we are freed, we are freed now." 

She wasn't the least bit shy of her nakedness in front of Mritnaal, the blood on her body painted wheat-brown cloak of Mritnaal in red.

"I know we are freed, but we shouldn't get carried away." Mritnaal looked towards the sky and said with a gloomy expression.

"But why?" Raged by his words she quickly released him from the hug and a gust of highly compressed wind decimated every single remains of the Narpwolf. "And how are we going to quell our hunger for destruction?" They weren't kept or prisoned. They just had their obligation to lay low and starve for destruction. 

"Aren't you the one who jumped in the war of those lowly beings and satiated your destruction-hunger by finishing off those titans?" Viiela always had been an impulsive one, unlike Mritnaal she tended to jump headfirst.

"You know better than anyone how it feels to be away from destruction, those titans were from another world. They weren't the inhabitants of Wiskaar." He tried to convince her; his expression was showing her disturbed mind. "Indeed we are freed, but…" He tried pursue her but stopped midway in hesitation. He knew what would happen if he told Viiela about Neehish's death. She would be a wrecking ball, but just a thousand times bigger one.

But Mritnaal was unable to hide the sadness in his voice, she sensed it and asked "But what, tell me what is it?" she could feel something was wrong her heart was sinking down.

"Somebody had slain Lord Neehish," Mritnaal uttered in a slow voice.

"Slapp…"

The slap didn't hurt Mritnaal a least bit, neither his brownish-yellow skin turned red. But he definitely could feel her anger for making such a joke. To his trouble and sorrow this wasn't a joke and he needed to handle her after making her believe what he had said was true.

"I am really sorry," her eyes filled with guilt for insulting him, she caressed Mritnaal's chick where she hit him and continued "You know I don't like jokes, and what were you thinking when you made one on Neehish."

Mritnaal grabbed her shoulders with both hands and while looking straight in her eyes he said "Viiela what just I said is true, Naalvia went to the place where Lord Neehish was sealed. He couldn't find anything but Lord Neehish's blood."

Her shoulder dropped and once again tears flooded her eyes. "I will turn them all to shreds."

"You won't do anything like that." The owner of a childlike voice said.

"Naalvia, but those insects …" her sorrow couldn't let her speak any more.

"Listen to me Viiela, it's for your own good, and do you really think you can defeat someone who had slain Lord Neehish?" Naalvia said while he appeared from a dense black, smoky portal.

"Then what do you suggest? I just run for my life from someone who took Neehish away from me." Raged, she shouted on Naalvia.

"I suggest you to be the gods and let the Wiskaar be your plaything. Infiltrate their petty kingdoms and mesmerize their kings of your power, instigate war among them. Convert Wiskaar into a war hell." Like his voice his incarnation was of a fourteen-year boy, but despite his looks he was giving orders to Viiela and Mritnaal. He was the most powerful dragon on Wiskaar right now since Neehish had gone. Naalvia had helped Neehish in destruction of countless worlds, so he knew better than anyone how to bring sufferings. 

"I am going to leave Wiskaar and meet His Grace for discussing the matter. I sure will come back with the help we would need to obliterate Wiskaar. [DRA~MINIASTASS…]"

Naalvia was a twenty feet long space dragon, and pure black scales with streams of glitters decorated him like cosmos in midnight. His one wing was smaller than the other, almost half of it. He breathed out black smoke in the sky and a portal conjured from it. He entered it with a zealous zigzag flight.

Viiela and Mritnaal stared at him in admiration, as he spirited away from the sky. Wiskaar will be a War hell. When she resolved, storms warned the world. Viiela was a wind dragon while Mritnaal was an earth dragon.

Kaye incurred the wrath of three ancient dragons by slaying their Lord, but for Viiela it was more than that. She loved Neehish and now she only sought vengeance.